Juventus vs Fiorentina

Juventus and Fiorentina are set to square off at the Allianz Stadium in a massive Serie A fixture.

Juventus’ goal-friendly 4-2 home victory over Zenit St Petersburg in midweek Champions League action is a sharp contrast to their domestic showings this term. Now winless in three Serie A matches (D1, L2), including a brace of 2-1 defeats to Sassuolo and Hellas Verona in the last two rounds, the ‘Bianconeri’ face the prospect of losing three top-flight games in a row for the first time since March 2011. An indifferent start to this Serie A campaign (W4, D3, L4) means the record-time Italian champions could record their worst-ever start to a new top-flight season in a three-point-per-win era if they fail to pick up the three points here. Juventus’ Serie A fixtures in Turin have been notably tight this term, as each of their five league matches here has yielded a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals (W3, D1, L1).

In the meantime, Fiorentina find themselves in an unusual situation as they face Juventus while sitting above them in the standings for the first time in years. Yet, ‘La Viola’ have been nothing if not inconsistent this season. They are one of only two Serie A teams yet to draw a match this term (W6, L5), alternating between winning (2) and losing (2) across their last four top-flight outings. Interestingly, both Fiorentina’s victories in that four-game sequence came by the identical 3-0 scoreline, while each defeat yielded a 1-0 score, highlighting the importance of drawing first blood. Fiorentina held Juventus winless in both last season’s Serie A encounters (W1, D1), including a 3-0 triumph in Turin, and could go unbeaten in three straight top-flight H2Hs for the first time since 2009.